Hi all,
I was wondering what to call this thread as it feels like I have lost an old friend! "Death of a sim" was one title that crossed my mind. I'll try to remain focussed on the term "Rebirth" and not "the destruction of my sim"! My B737 simulator had to be dismantled last weekend, I have rented out the house it was in and the house had to be emptied. I removed each component and then with a shaky hand and a Stanley trimmer, I cut away weeks and weeks of wiring and it had been a moment I had been dreading but it is done now and again I have no simulator . It has to go into storage again until I have moved into my new home. I have planned the simulator's rebuild for a while and it will begin after my trip to the UK. Hopefully I will be able to rebuild the sim and still take customer orders but I might have to put Aerosim on hold for a few months. I have bought a home with a fantastic powered workshop that is big enough to house the sim and my Aerosim Solutions work so it will be very easy to work on, I just have to install a kitchen and sleeping quarters!!!
My sim will be reborn with a new MIP that is ready, Console, The first Aerosim B737 TQ, Overhead, 2 x FDS FMCs, FDS SYS1X interface and FDS/Sim Avionics. The brains of my sim will be all Flightdeck Solutions with the exception of the CP Flight MCP and EFIS which will remain. I will rebuild the rudders and move them and the seats outwards to allow for a full scale centre pedestal. It will be rebuilt with a much higher degree of accuracy and I will document progress in this thread....the story begins...
Cheers Gwyn
Hi Gwyn.. I look forward to watching this come to life!
cool Gwyn
This will be great to watch!
Scott
Hey Gwyn, I can see the sweaty palms and furrowed brow as a result. lol. I look forward to seeing the results.
Cheers,
Ken.
I can feel your pain Gwyn. I also moved recently and had to tear down my sim 2 years or so ago and it hurt. But the hurt was nothing compared to the hurt of re-building, at least for me. In 2 years, you forget a lot of things and I am dreading having to figure out again what is not working anymore, especially software wise, and not discounting the fact that the sim now needs a new PC to deal with wraparound visuals ::).
Good luck & best wishes with your move,
Maurice
Cheers guys for your wishes,
My sim is now packed up and in a storage unit, I've kept the monitors to fit to my new MIP so they will be coming out of their cases for flush mounting, I will document the process. This will be the first job after my UK trip....only 10 days to go!
Gwyn
Looking forward to watching it all unfold.
Warren
Hi all,
It has been a while since I posted on this thread mainly because I've been posting about individual components in other threads. I thought I would get back here as the new components are now starting to be installed. This weekend the I stripped the sim down to it's bare steel frame and fabricated new pieces to extend it. Originally the floor area was 1.5m square and now the new pieces added change it to full scale. My dual linked columns and fibreglass yokes have been sold to a sim centre here in Perth and I will be fitting a pair of real 737-200 yoke handles and some new aluminium columns next. The new floor is massive and it is certainly making my workshop shrink!
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My apologies to all the builders requesting parts but I have to stay focused on my own sim now until it is finished, Aerosim Solutions will return next year!!
Cheers Gwyn
More progress! It's been a busy month and I have the Boeing yokes and gearboxes installed on new aluminium columns. The pivot boxes swing on roller bearings and short stub axles. The spring centering mechanism works great and it is quite simple really, a good design to share!
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Cheers Gwyn
More pics,
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...and more...
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Gwyn
The flight controls are hooked up to a Leo Bodnar BU0836X card and I tested them last night with my mate Greg H, thanks for the help Greg! This is the state of the sim July 1st with all the underfloor work completed.
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Cheers Gwyn
Bloody hell Gwyn, I liked the first ones you made, these are awesome.
Have you started work on the wings yet? ;D
Cheers
Joe.
Quote from: Joe Lavery on July 03, 2013, 03:50:13 PM
Bloody hell Gwyn, I liked the first ones you made, these are awesome.
Have you started work on the wings yet? ;D
Cheers
Joe.
Haha....speaking of wings, I have just received a pair of FDS glare wings which are absolutely fantastic...(Thank you Peter Cos, awesome product!) The glare wings have the clock buttons, I assume it will be ok to piggy back those buttons into your clocks Joe? I've just made a couple of new ends for my MIP that will house your clocks, I lit one up the other day they look great. All the best mate,
Gwyn
I bought those , too, Gwyn.
I liked the Engravity glares, but the FDS wings had the clock buttons and better Fire and Emergency Warning buttons, so I melded the two together.....Peter Cos, put your fingers in your ears, sorry.
Did it with fibreglass, but it was such a hassle, I'd never do it again.
Keep those pics coming, Gwyn, looking great,
Frank Cooper
More progress this week with the chart holders fitted to the yokes. The rudder sets are now mounted on simple drawer runners for forward and aft movement, I was going to do a mechanical crank but I thought that making them electric like the FDS 777 sim is simpler and a pretty neat trick. The adjustment crank will look the same but it will be a switch. I made the rudder link bar to look and work like the real aircraft part and it works well. More soon...
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Cheers Gwyn
OOhhh. Is that it? Hand built electrically activated adjustable rudders that look like the real thing? I thought you were going to announce something difficult today ;D
I'll go back to to cutting myself with my screwdriver :'(
Seriously though, that is some awesome work there Gwyn! As always I look forward to the "new" icon on your build page.
Warren
Cheers Warren, lol screwdriver! It happens to us all mate!
I've finished the motor install on the rudder pedals and they are working well. The motors are a bit noisy so they might have to be replaced but the assembly is proven.
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Video here - http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/Westozy/media/Electricrudders_zps573bd103.mp4.html (http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/Westozy/media/Electricrudders_zps573bd103.mp4.html)
Cheers Gwyn
This weekend I switched to the seating and I decided to make my own J rails instead of the original plan that was opening doors on the sides. The parts are too big for my small CNC machine so I called on some help from my mate Rick. The aluminium parts are being laser cut and I should have more progress pics on these this week. I think the J rails might be making the product list in 2014!
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Cheers Gwyn
Hello Gwyn,
Awesome progress and thank you so much for sharing the ideas!
Best Regards,
Marc
Hi,
I just bought a real B737-400 yoke and I'm looking for idea to be able to adapt and make it work with FS.
Thank you for sharing on this topic.
Gwyn, I contacted you on AS
Best regards,
Guy
Hi Guy - see PM!
Cheers all
Gwyn
I'm very pleased to report that the prototype 'Aerosim Solutions' J rail system works really well. The sliding seat mounting base has a very smooth action along the tracks. Next I have to make the locking mechanism and a box section to mount my modified Nissan R33 Skyline seats.
These will be added to the Aerosim Solutions product list soon and they will certainly be a great deal cheaper than another version out there....promise!!
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More pics soon......Gwyn
Gwyn, these look great. I will be interested in getting two. Let me know when they are in production.
That is some amazing engineering Gwyn. Thanks for sharing!! I love your mechanical solutions!
Regards,
Anders
Hello Gwyn,
Very nice professional looking items, I am looking forward to you offering these.
Best Regards,
Marc
Hi all, progress from this weekend.
I made the mounting box for the Captain's seat and installed it on my new J rails. Unfortunately I have to extend the floor of my platform to accommodate the new J rails which will make it too wide to exit the workshop, the extension will have to be removable I think. The seat box got 'blinged' with a hundred and seventy two non functional rivets, thanks kids! The Nissan R33 Skyline seats are looking more like crew seats now and they only cost $100 plus $50 for re upholstering after I cut out the yoke relief at the front. Coming from a right hand drive car the lucky F.O. gets all the lumbar adjustments!
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Cheers Gwyn
July 29 - I had to add another 250mm to the rear of the floor area to accommodate the new J rails. The carpet tiles are now glued down and I added some aluminium trim around the edge. The F.O.s seat will be going in tonight and I'll be working on the seat locks. After that I think I'll be back onto the MIP sub panels before building the sidewalls. Getting there slowly!!!
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Cheers Gwyn
Looking good Gwyn, are you going to put a shell over it?
Joe.
It sure will have a shell Joe, it's a 'ground up' restoration! After the MIP, TQ and radio console have had final tweeks I will do the sidewalls, windows then overhead, that's the plan. I had the awful realization the other day that the only component I have recycled is the steel base, everything else is new. I could have left the old sim together, sold it and started again!!! I didn't realize I would be upgrading everything!
Cheers Gwyn
I'm having way too much fun this week! Both seats installed.
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Cheers Gwyn
Hey Gwyn, looking good mate. Interested in what you came up with for the seat rail locking mechanism, and what height did you make your seats overall?
Cheers,
Ken.
Quote from: Kennair on August 01, 2013, 10:00:39 PM
Hey Gwyn, looking good mate. Interested in what you came up with for the seat rail locking mechanism, and what height did you make your seats overall?
Cheers,
Ken.
Hi Ken,
I've made an 'ejector' seat type handle which will sit under the front of the seat swab to raise the locking pin on the J rail tracks. I should have them finished this week and will be able to post pics. I'll bring a handle to Worldflight tomorrow night for you to see. I measured the 737 seats in Blake's jumbo and a median height of the seat pad was 460mm, I copied that and it seems about right. I had to raise my MIP stand 50mm to be correct height as the columns were obscuring the displays - all fixed now!
Cheers Gwyn
Cheers Gwyn
Hi all,
I have installed the locking pins that position the seats so the seating and J rails are finished. It's back to detailing the MIP next...
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Cheers Gwyn
Another fantastic solution, Gwyn.
They look the bom-diggitty!
Frank Cooper
Quote from: Aerosim Solutions on June 03, 2013, 09:26:08 PMMy apologies to all the builders requesting parts but I have to stay focused on my own sim now until it is finished, Aerosim Solutions will return next year!!
Cheers Gwyn
Has it become 2014 yet?? :'(
Hi all,
I've started back on the MIP and fitted the landing gear lever last night. The back lighting works great but I haven't got a picture of that yet. Autobrake panel next...
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Hi Efe, 2014, not quite there yet but I think I will be opening the flood gates restarting Aerosim Solutions. I will be heading towards full time I think if all goes to plan!
Cheers Gwyn
Come on Gwyn, what are those horrible shiny screws your using... ;D
Nice job, getting there mate!
Joe.
Quote from: Joe Lavery on August 22, 2013, 04:07:19 AM
Come on Gwyn, what are those horrible shiny screws your using... ;D
Nice job, getting there mate!
Joe.
Hi Joe, I found that the panels fell off without screws lol. Yes indeed I have to buy and paint a bucket load of correct looking fasteners, dzus replicas etc, I'll get there sooner or later!
Here's more pics from the weekend, I'm really pleased with the warning annunciators, only about a hundred more to go! All the MIP sub panels are made but I'm going to buy the AFDS units from FDS, they look great and will save a lot of time - http://www.flightdecksolutions.com/components/b737ng/b737ng-mipmain/fds-b737ng-afds-2.0/ (http://www.flightdecksolutions.com/components/b737ng/b737ng-mipmain/fds-b737ng-afds-2.0/)
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Cheers Gwyn
Hey Gwyn, did you make those annunciators yourself? very nice job if you did.
I've made a few for the fun of it on a laser but they are a bit fiddly, must be worse on a CNC.
Incidentally love the seats and rails mate, just shows you don't need to spend upwards of £2000.00 for seats to look right. I'd rather spend that money on stuff like the AFDS or CDU units.
Of course I understand that some guys want everything authentic and I suppose if I had unlimited funds I would probably be the same. But until those lottery tickets cough up.... ;D
Cheers
Joe.
Quote from: Joe Lavery on August 26, 2013, 02:14:58 AM
Hey Gwyn, did you make those annunciators yourself? very nice job if you did.
I've made a few for the fun of it on a laser but they are a bit fiddly, must be worse on a CNC.
Incidentally love the seats and rails mate, just shows you don't need to spend upwards of £2000.00 for seats to look right. I'd rather spend that money on stuff like the AFDS or CDU units.
Cheers
Joe.
Hi Joe,
Yes I made the annunciator, the faceplate is a 2 minute cut and the box takes about 8 minutes. The box has one toolpath and then it has to be flipped to cut the rebate where it mounts in the panel. I cut it from 10mm black acrylic. Only another 80 to do!!
Seats - they were pretty cheap - Car seats $100, J-rail prototypes $650 plus about 20 hours of labour! Pro upholstery where I cut the yoke recess - $100, so well under a thousand bucks for the pair!
Cheers Gwyn
Hi all,
More progress on the sim - I've painted the Main Instrument Panel, fitted lenses to 6 gauges and the 5 square Multi Function Displays. Installed the new AFDS units, Chronometers from Joe Lavery, MFD selectors. The remote autobrake switch is assembled and working, the rotary switch is mounted away from the knob and driven by trace wire because there is no room with the centre monitor in the way. I've soldered looms on to most of the panels in readiness for the FDS-SYS1X cards, not much more to go before i can start the glareshield and upper frame work...
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Cheers Gwyn
Looking awesome Gwyn, up to your usual standard.
Cheers
Joe.
Hi all, this week I've finished the MIP annunciators. Now I'm focusing on the nightmare if the autobrake panel! The remote autobrake switch is installed and working but now I think I have to do the same type of set up for the speed ref rotary switches. There is only 7mm of space between the panel and the centre monitor. If only someone would manufacture 8" square monitors!! The AFDS units are from Flightdeck Solutions, does anyone have the wiring diagram??
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Cheers Gwyn
A couple of 'behind the scenes' shots! Rear of my MIP.
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Gwyn
Quote from: Aerosim Solutions on October 28, 2013, 04:37:59 PM
Hi all, this week I've finished the MIP annunciators. Now I'm focusing on the nightmare if the autobrake panel! The remote autobrake switch is installed and working but now I think I have to do the same type of set up for the speed ref rotary switches. There is only 7mm of space between the panel and the centre monitor. If only someone would manufacture 8" square monitors!! The AFDS units are from Flightdeck Solutions, does anyone have the wiring diagram??
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Cheers Gwyn
Gwyn, I just emailed you the AFDS pinouts.
Warren
Hi Warren and thanks again but I've just noticed that I have the AFDS "V1" which has a different pin arrangement, (two sets of 6 pins) I will contact Peter at FDS as his website suggests!
Cheers Gwyn
Info sent Gwyn via email
Quote from: Jetcos on October 30, 2013, 05:35:57 PM
Info sent Gwyn via email
Cheers Steve, I have the data! It's Friday RDO....I'm off to the workshop to finish the MIP!!
Thank you,
Gwyn
Hi all,
Today I finished the MFD switch plate that goes on the autobrake panel, the buttons will work and the panel has integrated backlighting. I also finished the 5 hinged strips on the bottom of the main display bezels, these cover the monitor adjusting buttons installed in the bezel. I also completed an imitation yaw damper gauge. I hope to get a lot done next week in the gaps between my worldflight duties, there should be some good progress! More pics soon..
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Cheers Gwyn
The lower sections of my MIP are installed and I'm waiting for vents to arrive for the two outer blank panels. I've bought some swivel ball vents and these will be hooked up to the air conditioning unit. I made 24 replica Dzus fasteners which was quite tedious but the result is worth it, I will have to make loads of these soon. The folding hinges on three of the main display bezels open to reveal the monitor controls which should be handy. Rudder adjustment cranks are next on the list, these will actually be switches as the rudder sets are motorized...
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Cheers Gwyn
Gwyn,
I know I've said this before, but WOW! The attention to detail is phenomenal. I was just looking at the two pics of your lower MIP and noticed the foot guards, the recessed and painted screws on the side of the CDU bay, your hinged DU frames. Very nice. Great work.
Thanks Warren, your comments are much appreciated! I think I have improved my attention to detail since starting Aerosim Solutions. Customers always want maximum bang for their buck as we all do and this has lead to the creation of more accuracy in all things I make. It doesn't really add to the time spent on making a part really, I probably spend a little more time in the planning phase. Other builders works can be inspirational and I think we all try to do our best no matter what level of skills we have. For me the chase for accuracy meant discarding all of my earlier efforts. In fact my sim is not being rebuilt at all, it is a totally new sim and the only thing that I have recycled is a small section of the steel base and this has been heavily modified. I could have left the old sim together and sold it as a going concern!! The best thing I find is to focus on a task and try not to get side tracked on something else - do it right, do it once! (Then do it again and again for customers lol, but the planning only has to be done once!) When my 737 is 'airworthy' I look forward to opening the doors again and working towards fulltime with Aerosim Solutions. Cheers Gwyn
Hi all,
More progress with air conditioning vents installed to the lower MIP panels. This is a slight variation on the replica look here but as the sim will have air conditioning I wanted it to have usable vents and ducting. These eyeball vents came from a retired old 1987 Ford Fairmont Ghia, I bought the centre console piece for $30, they swivel nicely and the butterfly valves are in good condition. I also prepared the 12 volt drill motors for driving the rudder sets fwd and aft. Does taking two brand new Ozito cordless drills out of the box and sawing the handles off void the warranty? Haha but it's a great way of getting a powerful geared drive motor for only $35 each! They would make good trim wheel drive motors as well I think.
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Cheers Gwyn
Hello Gwyn,
Your attention to detail is absolutely amazing! It seems that everything you do with your Sim Project is top quality throughout the entire design and process. Great progress and nice work!
Keep the status and photos coming as it affords a quality benchmark for everyone to shoot for. Thanks again for sharing.
Mike
Thanks Mike, your comments are much appreciated! Here are some more pics from the weekend...
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Motorized rudders in my 737 simulator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rBkyOWLKI#ws)
Not strictly 737 but I wanted to have electric rudders like the 777.
Cheers Gwyn
Hi all,
I've had another really busy weekend in the workshop finishing the backlighting on the lower MIP panels and then making an aluminium glareshield structure. It supports the CPFlight EL MCP & EFIS units along with the fantastic glare wings from Flightdeck Solutions. Filling in the gaps between the glare wings and the MIP will be fun, those pieces will be a challenge! I have some textured vinyl upholstery to go on top of the glareshield and also the map pocket from FDS. I'll be onto the sidewalls as soon as the glare is finished and that will be the bottom half done!
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Cheers Gwyn
Testing the backlighting...
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Cheer Gwyn
Bloody beautiful as usual Gwyn, PC will be after you for stealing his IBL patent ;)
Are you using that LED strip lighting or individual LED's?
Ken.
Hi Ken,
Haha I didn't do it - I promise officer! You have seen my IBL in the Flightcity sim and it is not that hard to do really but I chose to use the simple $25 Chinese 12VDC white strip lighting mounted in a box. I've done the whole of my MIP with one roll of the LED strip lights and there is still about a metre left on it. For the lower MIP sections I made plastic boxes from 3mm PVC which are about 25mm deep. The inside of the box is lined with a chrome foil tape courtesy of Thomas and the pieces of strip lighting is stuck to the inside of the box with it's own sticky backing in alignment with the text. I don't trust the sticky backing because it does let go after a while so there are some hot glue bridges to firmly secure it in place. The same foil tape secures the box to the panel, it prevents light bleed and covers the back of the potentiometer circuit boards, switches and wiring. The light spread is excellent as you have seen from the pics, I think the light spreads a lot more even than IBL and the dimmers work a treat!
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Cheers Gwyn
Your innovation continues to amaze. :D
Ken.
Hi all,
The latest pics of my sim. I've finished the glareshield and panel lighting. The main panel, background and AFDS flood dimmers are hooked up and working. My 3 new PCs will be ready in a week, can't wait!
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Cheers Gwyn
Looks great, Gwyn, please keep us posted!
Nick
Quote from: Aerosim Solutions on November 17, 2013, 05:09:03 PM
Rudder adjustment cranks are next on the list, these will actually be switches as the rudder sets are motorized...
Cheers Gwyn
Interesting! Do the newer 737 have motorized rudder pedal adjustment?
On our 737-200 I was surpised by how fast and easy the pedals adjust with the hand cranks compared to other aircraft Ive had my hands on. The F-4 Phantom takes a lot of effort to crank the pedals foward or back.
Justin
Quote from: dc8flightdeck on January 21, 2014, 12:00:15 PM
The F-4 Phantom takes a lot of effort to crank the pedals foward or back.
Justin
Different guys ! lol :D
Quote from: dc8flightdeck on January 21, 2014, 12:00:15 PM
Quote from: Aerosim Solutions on November 17, 2013, 05:09:03 PM
Rudder adjustment cranks are next on the list, these will actually be switches as the rudder sets are motorized...
Cheers Gwyn
Interesting! Do the newer 737 have motorized rudder pedal adjustment?
On our 737-200 I was surpised by how fast and easy the pedals adjust with the hand cranks compared to other aircraft Ive had my hands on. The F-4 Phantom takes a lot of effort to crank the pedals foward or back.
Justin
Hi Justin, I don't think any of the 737s have electrically adjustable rudders, this was a bit of customizing for my sim after being inspired by flying the FDS 777 sim at Jandakot (YPJT). Maybe my 737 is the first to have them...737NG Deluxe version!!
Hi all,
This weekend I made the oxygen mask box doors for the sidewalls. I was originally going to make some flat one piece replica face plates but I ended up getting a bit carried away making hinges and the masks themselves. There is a test button under the black lever and I hope to hook this up to a sound file to imitate the test sound, it should be a nice gimmick during the checklist procedure! The masks were new filter type respirators, I modified them to hook up to stainless braided hoses which are plumbing fittings. The mask still have their valves intact and would actually work if they were connected to an air source I guess... smoke in the cockpit simulation?? I don't think so...it's just bling lol!
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Cheers Gwyn